City of Rats Part II: Government of Dunwall

Dunwall's government is made up of a ruling Castellan (typically the head of House Kaldwin) and a city council that concerns itself with the day-to-day business of the city.

House Kaldwin has ruled over Dunwall since the War of the Castellans in the early 420s, a position that they have held despite wars and upheavals. Indeed it was Castellan Lando Kaldwin who led the liberation of his city and forced the Khadorans out in 468 AR. The latest Kaldwin to rule over Dunwall was Jessamine Kaldwin who committed herself to a just and compassionate rule, doing whatever it took to alleviate the suffering of her people. Sadly she was recently assassinated, as it is widely believed, by her bodyguard Corvo Attano. Her heir and daughter, Emily Kaldwin, is presently missing with her current whereabouts unknown.

After Jessamine's death, Thane Hiram Burrows took power as the Lord Governor with approval from Merin but on the condition that it was only a temporary measure until either Emily Kaldwin was found or a new Castellan was appointed. Burrows had served House Kaldwin for a number of years and had been made a Thane by Jessamine's father, Euhorn Kaldwin. Though in contrast to the late Jessamine, Hiram rules with an iron fist and has enforced harsh measures on the city to deal with the plague that has engulfed it.

The City Council is largely made up of Dunwall's nobility, though there is a growing number of rich merchants and industrialists whom have gained seats in the Council. The Council mainly deals with the every running of the city, the collection of taxation and paying the City Watch's wages. With the coming of the plague it has had to introduce emergency measures and concerning to some the head of Dunwall's Menite religion, High Overseer Thaddeus Campbell, was appointed to the City Council by the Lord Governor to act as the de facto head of the Council.

City of Rats Part I: Dunwall

Thousand Cities Era

On the site that the present day city of Dunwall occupies, south-west of the Windwater Lakes, there was once an earlier city whose name is now lost to the sands of time. Like Berck it hosted the Tordoran Armada, though probably because of this it was put to the torch by the Orgoth invaders shortly after the Battle of a Thousand Sails and the scorched ruins were turned into a port fortress by the Orgoth to consolidate their hold on the region.

The Rebellion Era

By the time of the Rebellion a slave town had grown up around the Orgoth fort, though it wasn't regarded as an important site for either side until later on when the Orgoth were being driven back into the sea. Though like many settlements it was subjected to the Scourge, though the Rebels manage to seize the city before the Orgoth had the chance to destroy every last stone.

The Corvis Treaties

203 AR saw the creation of Ord and also the founding of what became the city of Dunwall, much like the Orgoth had done before them the Ordic people rebuilt the ruins into a port fortress to guard against the return of the invaders from across the Meredius. The old Orgoth central keep was demolished and its foundations used for a new central fort that became Dunwall Tower, whilst the old tunnels below the city were eventually adapted into a sewer system.

The Colossal War

During the first attacks of the Colossal War in 250 AR Dunwall quickly found itself under siege by Khadoran forces, eventually falling after two months and not liberated by joint Ordic-Cygnaran forces until six years later. However Dunwall had been ruined by the war and fell into a period of decline and became overshadowed by Berck as a major port for trade.

The Border Wars

War would return by the century's end with the First Expansion War fought by Khador, though Dunwall suffered less with only raids and bombardments by the Khadoran Navy. Though when the port of Radhavo fell, Dunwall suddenly found itself in serious danger. Though the Khadorans were halted outside nearby Corbhen and forced to fall back. Later in the war the Ordic Royal Navy used Dunwall as a base to launch raids against its Khadoran counterpart and Kingsparrow Island at the mouth of the Wrenhaven River was fortified and turned into a bastion to help defend the city against further attacks.

The Quiet Century

Dunwall slowly recovered from the damage it had suffered during the wars over the previous few decades, gradually it became a fishing and later whaling port as its fortunes increased. Though it did see violence return to its streets during the War of the Castellans that lasted from 421-425 AR, House Kaldwin would gain governance over the city by the time the conflict ended.

Second Expansion War

By the mid 460s war reared its ugly head once more, Dunwall was quickly captured following a large naval battle which allowed the Khadorans to land an invasion force to take the port city and then seize Corbhen. The Khadorans then pressed on to take Berck but were halted and then eventually forced back, both Dunwall and Corbhen were liberated in 468 AR.

The Modern Era

It was during the first couple of decades of the 500s that the potential of whale oil, once refined, as an energy source was first realised. It would take until the later part of the century when the alchemical process was made viable and refined, the first few pieces of specially adapted Mechanika powered by this new energy source followed soon afterwards. By 600 AR Dunwall's whaling had turned into a major industry and improved the city's economic standing.

Despite Dunwall's good fortune, Plague struck the city in 607 AR...

IKRPG: City of Rats

Thus begins a new series for the blog's Friday slot.

I've been kicking about the idea of doing an IKRPG campaign based upon the video game Dishonored, there are a few elements that crossover quite nicely and that makes feel it would work.

Basic idea is to simply adapt the city of Dunwall to the Iron Kingdoms, making changes where needed like having Dunwall be an Ordic whaling town, etc. Gradually over time as I create content for a Dishonored based game I hope to eventually weave adventures and a fully-fledged campaign from it, so hopefully enough to keep this new series of articles and posts going for a little while.

Next week the proper start of the series, chiefly content covering the Iron Kingdoms version of Dunwall.

Of Kings, Nations and Gods 6/11/2013

Well I picked up the new Kings, Nations and Gods book for the Iron Kingdoms RPG and ye gods is it a hefty book!

I've only skimmed through and paid attention to parts that had interested me, though I hazard a guess that there is alot more background stuff in this book than the old World Guide. There is extra stuff in the form of new careers, equipment and warjacks focused on each of the Iron Kingdoms.

More than filling out the history and the scope of the land, it also helps brings Western Immeron to life. Maps and info have been updated to reflect events in the Warmachine game, plus there is a ton more artwork. A few of the cities now have art, Caspia (and her twin Menite city of Sul) looks impressive and he get a view of what a city in the Protectorate looks like.

But as I said above I've only skimmed through it, there is alot to read and I suspect theres little nuggets hidden in the text. For example various concerns have established outposts on the continent of Zu, something that may be the cause of a proxy war later down the line and plot for a campaign.

Immeron Newes & Apologies 4/11/2013

Apologies for not updating for about a couple of months, had stuff come up which meant this blog having to take a backseat. Going to be posting today a roundup of all the Insider over the past two months in order to catch up.

Though since the Full Metal Fridays feature from PP are finished for the time being I'm looking at possibly doing something to fill its place on the blog.

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*Sept 9th; Will Hungerford previews some cards from HODRES: High Command and the final Machinations season.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-9-13

*Sept 11th; Will Shick and David Carl talk about Cygnar in WARMACHINE: High Command.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-11-13

*Sept 16th; Matt Dipietro talked about PP's Formula P3 Grandmaster Painting Competition.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-16-2013

*Sept 18th; William French on the [OMEGA PROTOCOL] expansion for LEVEL 7.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-18-2013

*Sept 20th; Will Shick and David Carl talk more about WARMACHINE: High Command, this time whilst taking a look at the Protectorate of Menoth.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-20-2013

*Sept 23rd; Ed Bourelle on designing the floor tiles for LEVEL 7 [OMEGA PROTOCOL].

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-23-13

*Sept 25th; Nick Kay on his Butcher based Khador army.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-25-13

*Sept 27; Will Shick and David Carl on Khador in WARMACHINE: High Command.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-27-13

*Sept 30th; Mike Vaillancourt on designing the Special Forces soldiers for LEVEL 7 [OMEGA PROTOCOL].

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-30-13

*Oct 2nd; Micah Scott-Ralston shows off his Mountain King for his nautical themed Trollbloods.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-10-2-2013

*Oct 4th; Will Shick and David Carl present their final WARMACHINE: High Command entry, a look at the Cryx deck.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-10-4-2013

*Oct 7th; Ed Bourelle talks about the design process for Faulty Intel in LEVEL 7 [OMEGA PROTOCOL].

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-10-7-13

*Oct 9th; David Carl shows off promotional cards for the release events of HORDES: High Command.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-10-9-2013

*Oct 11th; Will Hungerford talks about the end of the Machinations league.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-10-11-13

*Oct 14th; Charles Foster III shows off his Convergence force.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-10-14-13

*Oct 16th; Brian Dugas reveals the new modelling putty for the Formula P3 line.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-10-16-13

*Oct 18th; Laine Garrett on updating the maps of Western Immeron for the latest IKRPG book.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-10-18-2013

*Oct 21st; Simon Berman shows off some alternative paint schemes for Cryx.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-10-21-2013

*Oct 23rd; Tony Konichek with a tutorial for LEVEL 7 [OMEGA PROTOCOL].

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-10-23-2013

*Oct 25th; Aeryn Rudel on writing part of the story for Machinations.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-10-25-2013

*Oct 28th; Mike Ryan on taking over as editor-in-chief for No Quarter.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-10-28-2013

*Oct 30th; Brian Dugas shows how he makes his custom sculpting tools.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-10-30-2013

*Nov 1st; Nick Kay shows off his finished Butcher Unleashed model.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-11-01-2013

Full Metal Friday 13/9/2013

Another Kings, Nations, And Gods playtest report.

This time Matt Goetz' favourite as GM which involved the new Menite careers and the Artillerist career.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-13-2013

Full Metal Friday 6/9/2013

Finally gotten over the cold, so normal postage should resume.

Regardless, new Insider today covering a rather interesting playtest of the new Khadoran careers for the IKRPG.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-9-6-13

Full Metal Friday 30/8/2013

Matt Goetz recounts an early playtest session for content from the new Kings, Nations, And Gods IKRPG book.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-8-30-13

Full Metal Friday 23/8/2013

Another preview for Kings, Nations and Gods, this time around a look at the Ordic Heavy Warjack the Toro and an upgrade.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-8-23-13

Full Metal Friday! 16/8/2013

Another Kings, Nations, And Gods preview in the shape of some Menite equipment and weapons.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-8-16-13

Full Metal Friday! 10/8/2013

Little bit later than I'd like, but oh well.

A new Kings, Nations and Gods preview is up, viewing players a sneak peek at new careers from the Khador section of the book.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-8-09-13

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In Other News...

My Kickstarter now has only a handful of days left, so feel free to have a look and back it or share.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/349041463/frozen-skies-a-savage-worlds-dieselpunk-rpg

Kings, Nations, and Gods Preview 2/8/2013

Instead of a Full Metal Friday instalment this week we have a preview of the new IKRPG book Kings, Nations, and Gods.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-8-02-13

Full Metal Friday 26/7/2013

This week's instalment features a duelling tournament with a bit intrigue as an encounter.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/full-metal-friday-7-26-2013

Full Metal Friday 19/7/2013

OK, I dropped the ball bit and missed making a post on Friday...blame the Kickstarter I'm running for my book.

Anyway, latest edition of Full Metal Friday brought us ways to include duelling in our games of the IKRPG.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/full-metal-friday-7-19-2013

Full Metal Friday 12/7/2013

New Full Metal Friday is up and this week it has duelling rules for the IKRPG.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/full-metal-friday-7-12-2013

Full Metal Friday 5/7/2013

The theme for July's Instalment of Full Metal Friday appears to be centered round the fine art of duelling.

This week covers the history of duelling in Western Immeron as well as a few new weapons.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/full-metal-friday-7-05-2013

Mis-Adventures In The Iron Kingdoms 3/7/2013

Well not much to report regarding the City of Rats campaign, the party have accepted Lord Gilmore's job offer and are heading to an apartment near Cheapsake to 'camp' for the night.

The party intends to meet with some Rhulfolk who are still living in the area and, in some cases, under it. They'll be doing so in order to see if Lord Gilmore's claim that the plague was deliberately introduced to Dunwall rings true or not.

Course, I'll be giving the party a combat encounter soon enough...

Full Metal Friday! 28/6/2013

This week's instalment of FMF finishes off this month's theme of the shadier side of the Iron Kingdoms with an ambush encounter called Dead End that features the Red Kings gang from last week.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/full-metal-friday-6-28-2013

Mis-Adventures In The Iron Kingdoms 26/6/2013

City of Rats is progressing slowly, the party has met with one of Dunwall's nobles called Lord Gilmore who has hired them to find the cause of the Rat Plague.

The first part of the party's investigation will take them to the slums of Cheapsake, a district of Dunwall I created especially for the RPG. So I've come up with a bunch of notes to flesh it out a bit.

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Bellow Teame's Districts of Dunwall (580 AR);

"Cheapsake... was like an honeycomb, perforated by a number of courts and blind alleys, cul de sac, without any outlet other than the entrance. Here were the lowest lodging houses in Dunwall, inhabited by the various classes of thieves common to large cities… were banded together… Because all are taken in who can pay their footing, the thief and the prostitute are harboured among those whose only crime is poverty, and there is thus always a comparatively secure retreat for him who has outraged his country's laws. Sums here are paid, a tithe of which, if well laid out, would provide at once a decent and an ample lodging for the deserving poor; and that surplus,which might add to the comfort and better the condition of the industrious, finds its way into the pocket of the middleman...." 

 

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Dunwall History 101

Cheapsake started out as a quarry during the construction of the Cathedral, its first inhabitants were the quarry workers who built up a small community. Once the Cathedral was completed the workers moved on and the dregs of society flocked to Cheapsake to take advantage of the then empty lodgings, though being in the Cathedral's shadow and a high water table made Cheapsake a rather poor piece of real estate and so it developed into a slum.

Tombland was chosen as the site of Dunwall's cemetery for those with coin in their pockets, though it is divided into two parts. The first part of Tombland is the visiable part of it, an open air graveyard surrounded by a few buildings that housed businesses dedicated to funerals and a pub. The other part is actually the catacombs that are located beneath the Cathmore Heights and were those with status are typically interned, there is an entrance to the catacombs through the Cathedral but that is used by priests for their own section of the catacombs.

Tombland and the Cathedral are directly linked via a raised, partially covered roadway that uses a Caspian name that either stands for the 'Ascendant's Walk' or 'the Walk of the Ascendants' depending on who you speak to. This roadway is partially covered in a tunnel like manner by various buildings and is lined by statues of the Ascendants, though it is only really used for funeral processions. It crosses the sole road into Cheapsake via a bridge which forms part of the city gate for the district of Cheapsake, though there is a large wall/building that is part of this gate and blocks the view into the slums beyond.

Full Metal Friday! 21/6/2013

This week's instalment features the Llaelese gang the Red Kings.

Also features a new weapon in the form of the garrote and rules to use it.

http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/full-metal-friday-6-21-2013